Did You Know?

Washington is a public land state. The area that now comprises the state was part of the public domain and was administered by the federal government through local land offices under the direction of the General Land Office (GLO), later known as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The first land office in Washington was established at Olympia in 1855.

In the early 1800s, traders and trappers came from Canada, Russia, Latin America, and the United States into what is now Oregon and Washington.

In 1811 The American Fur Company, owned by John Jacob Astor, an American, established the first white settlement at Astoria, Oregon.

Most early settlements of the 1830s and 1840s were in the Willamette Valley.

Washington Territory was created February 8, 1853 from northern part of Oregon Territory north of the Columbia River in the west, and north of the 46th parallel east of the Columbia River.

Gretna Greens. When a Washington State couple's marriage is not in their home county, search for it in alternate places like Port Orchard for the greater Seattle area, or Coeur d'Alene ID for Spokane and eastern Washington.[1]

Research Tools

Find which county a town is in, what town a cemetery is in, even where a postoffice or building is by using the United States Geographical Survey's Geographical Names Information System.

Atlas of Historical County Boundaries Washington State at The Newberry Library Dr. William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture. Provides pdf of county boundaries and KMZ files for use with Google Earth.

The Evolution of Washington Counties by Newton Carl Abbott & Fred E. Carver, 1979. Published by the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society and Klickitat County Genealogical Society. Book gives a complete recap of formation and dissolution of Washington Territory and Washington State counties.